The Government Accountability Board is dismissing hundreds of complaints surrounding the debate over the budget repair bill.
The GAB says it received a wide range of complaints about the tactics used by both political parties during the month of chaos at the Capitol between February and March. The board ruled that, while the facts in some of the complaints may be true, there’s no reasonable suspicion that any ethics laws administered by the GAB were violated.
The allegations covered six main categories, including the infamous taped phone call where Governor Scott Walker thought he was talking to David Koch, restrictions on access to the Capitol, Republicans using the State Patrol to locate missing Senators, rules passed trying to lure Democrats back to the state, use of the budget repair bill debate to advance political agendas, and claims that Democratic Senators used campaign funds and gifts to pay for their stay in Illinois.
In a statement, GAB director Kevin Kennedy notes that the board’s charge is not to enforce what is perceived to be politically right or wrong, and that it cannot enforce statues outside of its jurisdiction.